Why should iPhone users have all the fun? Though Apple likes to trot out stats about its ballooning app store every month or so, BlackBerry App World has its own growing library of third-party apps, and it’s not clogged up with quite as many fart machines and virtual lighters, either. We dug out a bunch of our personal favorites across five different categories to highlight the very best BlackBerry developers have to offer.

This list has been updated since its original publication to reflect new releases and software updates. Also, make sure to check out our list of the best BlackBerry phones, as picked by our expert reviewers.

Categories

Productivity

Productivity

Replace your butt-worn spiral notebook with this 21st century version, which allows you to capture the same brainstorms, thoughts and musings in a much more organized manner. Besides text, you can also file away photos (like snaps of whiteboard) and audio (like a spur-of-the-moment interview) from either your desktop or your phone, then effortlessly search through them later.

When you’re stranded in Laramie, Wyoming, on a rainy Monday night without a place to stay, sitting in a parking lot with a broken car that won’t be fixed until Monday, you’ll be thankful you downloaded WorldMate Live. Within seconds, you can thumb through a list of hotel rooms sorted by distance from your location, with prices for each room and even a page for booking one. And that’s just scratching the surface of what it can do. You can also use it to track flights, sort itineraries, convert currency, look at maps, and check the weather where you’re headed. Download it before you leave home (and pray for cell signal in Laramie).

TeleNav GPS Navigator has long been the de facto standard for turn-by-turn navigation on BlackBerry devices, but at $10 a month, it’s a lot pricier to keep around than a dog-eared atlas in the back seat. For those who just need the occasional prod in the right direction, amAze offers completely free turn-by-turn navigation with advanced features like local search, built-in weather, and even a library of speed traps to steer you clear of Johnny Law.

Jealous of the visual voicemail features on the iPhone? YouMail Visual Voicemail Plus provides the same ease of browsing and playback, along with even more powerful features like the ability to listen to your voicemails from any Internet-connected computer. Although it works by replacing your carrier’s default voicemail service, it works with all major U.S. carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and more – and there’s no fee for usage.

While collar folk don’t often like to admit it, but let’s face it: 90 percent of the day, you don’t really need a smartphone because you’re already planted in front of a computer. Blurt Pro takes advantage of that fact by connecting your PC to your computer via Bluetooth whenever you’re in range, allowing you to see read and respond to SMS messages, place and answer calls, and even display call ID, all from your computer. It beats pulling your phone out of your pocket every time, and a real keyboard sure can come in handy for sending text messages in a hurry.